Page 210 of Blood Day

Now what?she asked, her voice holding notes of fear and annoyance in it.

“Next phase,” I said to Damien. But it wasn’t needed, because his fingers were already flying over the keyboard.

“This female of yours had better be worth the pain,”he murmured, his tattooed forearm reminding me of black vines in the low lighting streaming in through the van windows.

“You have no idea,” I replied, checking the ammunition on my gun again.Go right, Lily. The doors will continue to open as you reach them. Whatever you do, don’t look back.

Snarls erupted on the screen, the wolves already tracking her.

Either Lily couldn’t hear them through the closed door, or she was focused on her escape, but she kept moving with the grace I’d ingrained into her through several harsh teaching lessons.

I bit back the urge to praise her, aware that this was just the beginning. My timetable had changed when that lycan had scented her, which meant this revised plan wasn’t my ideal avenue.

But it would work.

Because I wouldn’t accept the alternative.

Howls bit into the night air, the alarms Damien had mentioned officially going off as the wolves realized something wasn’t quite right with their internal systems.

Damien had estimated that it would take them less than a minute to notice his intrusion.

Unfortunately, he’d been right.

I studied the monitors, searching for my contact inside.

He should be standing near the exterior doors, ready to grab Lily and shove her into a waiting trunk. The howls were his cue. Yet I didn’t see him anywhere.

My eyes narrowed.Where are you?He was the one part of this mission I’d felt uneasy about from the beginning. The lycan wasn’t one I’d worked with before.

However, Jolene hadn’t been an option for this part. He was too well known as the pack’s former alpha, and word of his involvement would have spread to his son.

That would lead to too many questions, and might even result in Walter killing or exiling Jolene.

So he’d introduced me to a lycan named Viper whom Jolene had suggested I hire for the job. I hadn’t trusted the new addition—an instinct cultivated through vast experience—and it seemed my initial thoughts on the newcomer had been correct.

I’d have to send Jolene some feedback later regarding hissuggestion.

Or maybe I’d just send him the lycan’s head.

“Incoming,” Damien warned, noting a trio of lycans in wolf form prowling outside the perimeter. They weren’t anywhere near our location, but they were in Lily’s intended path.

Stop, I told her, my eyes scanning the screen for an alternative strategy. My contact was still nowhere to be seen. And I didn’t like the coincidence of those three lycans having chosen Lily’s exact escape route for their surveillance run.

I pointed to the image on the top left. “Can you unlock one of the doors in that hallway?”

Cedric?

I need a second,I replied.

Another hint of distrust blasted from her mind to mine, but I ignored her in favor of Damien.

“To the morgue?” he asked.

“Yes.” It would help mask some of Lily’s scent. Of course, the lycans would eventually be able to track her directly to that door. But I had a plan for her once she was inside.

Damien hit a few keys, and one of the doors unlocked, answering my question.

Lily, I need you to run back the way you just came. And hurry.